‘Kindness, respect and consultation’ versus ‘being kept active and busy’: The differences between residents' and families' expectations of high-quality care in nursing homes

High-quality care is a right and an expectation of older people living in nursing homes; however, recent Australian evidence suggests that the care provided is sub-standard. To understand what older Australians living in nursing homes and their family members expect of high-quality aged care, semi-structured interviews were undertaken with older people (n = 51) and family members (n = 29) in 15 nursing homes. Transcripts were thematically analysed. Findings suggest that older peoples' and family members' expectations of high-quality care differ. Overwhelmingly, older people spoke about meals and the interpersonal aspects of care, including the importance of relationships with others, being treated respectfully as individuals with kindness, being given choice and involvement in care decisions, and staff responding to their care needs promptly. For families, high-quality care was about having a clean physical environment, more staff to provide individualised care, better communication with families, and keeping their relatives active and busy. Older people also spoke about the need for more staff, but their concern related to staff workload rather than the quality of their care. This research found that the care priorities of older people in nursing homes differ from those of their families. Staff must not assume that the expectations of older people and families regarding high-quality care are the same; they should provide person-centred care to older people and improve communication with families.